


Winter Came

by ismellitblue



Series: Bad moon [2]
Category: Naruto, Noragami
Genre: Death, Folklore butchered by yours truly, Frenemies, Gen, Izanami - Freeform, Shinki - Freeform, Uchiha Sasuke-centric, craziness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-01-31 04:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12674022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismellitblue/pseuds/ismellitblue
Summary: Something is reaping the souls of the living.That wouldn't be a problem if death was doing the reaping,but Izanami had nothing to do with the deaths...whatever is killing people is either very powerful,or very,very stupid.This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.-T.S Eliot





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After countless drafts thrown in the bin,I finally decided to go with this,Hope you guys enjoy and thank you for being patient.I do not own either Naruto or Noragami.

The first tremor came while Sasuke was being forced fed half his body weight(not that force was necessary) by three beldams he often spent time with.

He ignored it(thinking it was the ayakashi trying to break out again).

But when a second stronger more noticeable tremor,that had the other sleeping beldams floating closer to the surface came,he got up to investigate(taking some tomatoes with him to eat along the way).

***

“ _What do you want_ ”

Even if he hadn’t felt the foreign energy signatures,Izanami’s angry tone would have alerted him to the fact that they had visitors….unwelcome ones at that.Instead of walking round the bend that would make him visible to everyone,Sasuke slipped quietly into the river and took a deep breath before diving under.

He resurfaced in a shadowed section of the throne room and nearly went right choked at the site of a pink haired girl in a tattered kimono.It was only when he realized the noticeable lack of a forehead that he let out a quiet breath(not Sakura then).

The girl was standing next to a tall man and on the other side of her there was a male in a tracksuit,a blond boy with amber eyes and a tall blonde woman who reminded him a lot of the Yamanaka.

They kept on talking while Sasuke gleaned as much from them as he could.

Ah…they were the ‘ _low life  good for nothing’_ intruders Izanami said had stolen from her before Sasuke had arrived.

Dumb,should also have been added somewhere in her rants(stealing from a deity was stupid,but stealing from a deity and then coming back was just stupid beyond belief).Izanami held grudges like no other(Sasuke would know,before her he hadn’t met anyone who held onto things as much as he did).

“Listen,to us,were sorry we messed things up last time,but you have to help us”

“Something is attacking the living world and we have no idea what it is”

“Just take a look and we’ll leave”Clearly the guy in the tracksuit had never had no sense of self preservation.

How could he ignore the rate at which Izanami was churning out her glowing centipedes.Her  hair practically had a life of its own,one more wrong word -

“Get out!Get out,ge-“

And just like every single one of their guests was pinned to the ground by Izanami’s locks.

***

There was a shift in the air as  the pinkette’s fingers twitched and the man tied up next to her vanished.A black fan appeared in her hand and with one gentle flick,Izanami was forced to let go as she got out of the path of  the way of a gigantic phantom erupting for the ground.

She banished it immediately,but the others had already regrouped.

The blond Yamanaka-like woman,struck out with a whip,catching Izanami across the jaw and Sasuke was finally able to put name to them based on the abilities they were displaying.

Bishamonten,god of war(boasting a literal amarda of shinki at her disposal).

Yato,former god of calamity,one of the few to have a blessed shinki.

Kofuku-god of poverty,with the power to summon ayakashi.

Izanami took all of them on,too angry to be reasoned with and the underworld reacted to her rage.The beldams rose up from the waters,with a ferocity Sasuke had never seen them display and were instantly upon the intruders.

“Stop…you have to listen to us”Yato pleaded as he dodged her hair and used the beldams as stepping stones,clutching his regalia’s weapon form with both hands and using it to cut the strands of hair he couldn’t evade.

***

A gun materialised in Bishamon’s hands and she took aim at one of the beldams.

Sasuke didn’t even have to think about it,he was out of the water and throwing shuriken without pause.The bullet fired was split in half,but Sasuke never saw it,instead his focus was on Izanami and he had her behind him and had raised his sword to intercept Yato’s blade.

There was a resounding clang and shock-wave strong enough to knock the beldams into the water and have the others struggling for balance followed.

Yato looked at him-wide-eyed and Sasuke used the surprise to trip him up  and send him flying.

“ _End them_ ”Izanami breathed,her tone carrying the slightest hint of mania in it.

***

 

Emotions were dangerous.

They’d blinded Sasuke to the point of hunting down his own brother for years.If he hadn’t had them, he would have noticed the inconsistencies about the night of the massacre sooner-but he hadn’t.He’d also been too emotional to take out Konoha with a single strike(now he’d never get the chance to,having sacrificed himself to seal Kaguya).

Tch…anyway,the leaf and all the rot it was habouring weren’t his problem anymore.  


What was his problem, was the underworld(he’d come to accept it and was quite fond of its many denizens(from the raving beasts in the lower levels that he fought for sport,to the beldams who always had superb food to offer).

The outsiders had to be desperate to come to the underworld and if those on the surface were in trouble,the underworld would most likely also be in danger.Izanami was too blinded by rage at having been betrayed to think straight,but Sasuke did not have that drawback.

He lowered his blade and offered his hand to Yato,to help him up and the other took it reluctantly.

Izanami’s bones rattled and Sasuke turned back to her.He stared into her empty eye sockets and they shared a quiet conversation,made possible by the knowledge they’d gained from reading each other during countless arguments.

In the end she huffed and her aura settled,silently giving Sasuke permission to continue.

“You have five minutes to tell us exactly what it is that you know”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already had this written out,so i figured why not post it.I still don't own Noragami,nor do i have ownership of Naruto.

“You’re a _shinki”_ The former god of calamity breathed out,not even trying to hide his incredulity.

“You don’t say,…here I was thinking I was puppy”How Sasuke could dish out that much sarcasm while keeping his tone flat Izanami would never know.

She stood straighter as she felt their stares turn to her.Adopting a haughty glare, she looked down at them quietly boasting about her achievement.

“What’s  your name?”The question was voiced by Yato’s shinki,Izanami was not expecting an answer from her temperamental regalia,but much to her surprise her replied.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke and you are?”

“Yukine,I’m Yukine and that’s Daikoku and well…the others”The boy said pointing at Kofuku’s shinki and the various regalia Bishamon was currently wearing.

“All of you came here for a reason,what is it?”Sasuke asked.That seemed to get through their daze and all of them immediately broke out of their stupor.

***

“We know we have no right to ask this of you as death is your domain,but please stop reaping lives”The god of war said,her face perfectly blank,like she hadn’t just asked death to stop doing her job.

“ _Excuse me”_ Izanami ground out,well aware that her centipedes were becoming agitated but she couldn’t help it.The _audacity,_ foolish girl.

“What Bishamon mean to say is uhh…”Yato rubbed the back of his neck shifting nervously.

“You should let people die without interfering,we know you’re angry about  last time,but it’s no reason for people to start dying like flies in hot soup”

“What?”

“It’s been like that ever since we got back and the mortals are worried,it’s all over the news and Hiyori said it’s apoc-”

“I am the queen of the underworld”

“I might get into fights,but I do not draw the innocent into it”

“Life and death require a balance,if I cast aside that rule over a petty squabble, I would not be fit to be queen”

They all looked at her and when she realised they were willing to believe her,she decided to carry on.

“What exactly is it,that has you believing I have anything to do with the deaths,”

“I would have known if something was out of order,as things stand the souls here are the ones in my books,so what exactly are you talking about”She asked once more and Sasuke hned in support of her question.

***

The visitors looked at each other for a moment before the god of war stepped forward.She removed a blanket from the back of her lion regalia and moved forward slowly, cradling it gently.

“There is a war in one of the continents on the surface,this baby was born during a battle I was personally attending to”

“He should have been fine,his mother was unharmed,but as you can see…”The woman finally closed the distance between them and Izanami found herself looking at the face of a new born child…a little boy.

A stillborn.

 _Impossible_.

She knew the faces and names of babies past and those to come that would never draw breath.This child was not one of the   _forever sleeping._

She touched his little cheek and everything came to her.

Makoto,his name would have been Makoto,he had 100 stripes in his  thread.He should have lived to be a hundred years old.

_What in the world?!_

She pulled back, and stared at the dead child,rage bubbling up in from deep within her at the injustice that had been done to the little one.

“How long has this been going on”Her tone brooked no arguments and the god of porvety swiftly provided an answer,her cheerful visage,having faded into an expression so heart-breaking only true poverty could pull it off.

“It started five human years ago,unnoticeable at first ,but lately,it’s gotten out of control”

“People are dying where they stand,and they rot there, with no one to bury them,because their loved ones have already perished”

“It’s caused a lot of unrest and humanity being what it is,has only made the situation worse by fighting”

“We’ve tried to stop whatever it is,but we’ve never actually seen the creature,that’s why we assumed it was you”

***

“Why is he so cold”Sasuke asked,looking at the child,his sharingan rotating slowly.

“He’s dead”Yato answered,the you idiot,not having to be voiced.

Sasuke’s eye twitched but he didn’t take the bait,instead he turned to the child,now being held in a cocoon of water thanks to Izanami.

“There should still be some life energy emanating from him even if he never used it,but he’s just….cold”

Izanami's head perked up at Sasuke’s observation and something niggled at her,like she’d forgotten something.

She reached for the child again,her hand not meeting any resistance as it went through the water barrier.This time she didn’t look at the child’s thread searching instead for his soul chamber.

It was empty(just as she’d expected,but she wasn’t looking for a sign of life).When she finally felt the traces of something foreign in the child’s core she pulled it to her,stringing it together bit by bit so she could make out what it was.

She tried to pull it out when she had a vague shape,but it broke apart,scattering and turning to smoke,…but not before a breath of ice brushed against her collar bone and provided her with an answer.The chill wrenched her out of the spirit plane and she staggered back,only managing to keep from toppling thanks to Sasuke catching her.

***

When Izanami had reached for the dead baby again ,Sasuke had turned his focus on their guest,who were studying him with open interest.

He scoffed lightly and turned back to the Queen,but turned slightly so that his rinnegan eye was monitoring their _‘guest’_ (just because he was already dead,it did not mean an extra dose of paranoia couldn’t benefit him).

_How strange._

Both the shinki and the gods had energy similar to the tailed beasts,with the shinki seeming to get most of theirs straight from the deity they were attached to.The shinki in turn were keeping the god’s energy in check(in Yato’s case though,both of them seemed to be sharing the same energy-breathing as one instead of taking turns to take breaths-was that what it meant to have a blessed regalia?).

A loud crack broke him from his musings and his eyes widened at the sight of Izanami’s collarbone snapping in half.He rushed towards her ,breaking her fall while,simalteneously putting up a wall of fire between them and the dead child,who’s limbs were twitching despite the fact that,he still couldn’t sense any energy from the body.

It was fortunately a short-lived phenomenon as the body once again went still and Sasuke let his flames die out as he carried to Izanami to her throne.

“Was that… _borderline?”_

He ignored whoever was asking ,as Izanami began to stir and her bones knitted back together,until they were their usual dull white colour.She looked around warily,staring at the worried beldams like she was expecting them to be something else.

Whenever Izanami was startled by something it was best to let her come out of her shock on her own(he’d learnt that the hard way after his eyes had come back,and he’d decided to take his sharingan for a spin -it hadn’t ended well…for him0.

So he retreated to a safe distance,motioning for the others to remain quiet as she composed herself.

When she finally looked less like death warmed over(,..huh),he approached.

“What happened?”

She looked from the floating child to the beldams,until her gaze settled on him.

“The cold you were talking about,I know where it came from”

“The ice maiden… _yuki-onna_ ”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,long time no see,RL has been hectic(and will continue that way this year).This has been on my pc for months,so i've decided to just post it.Hope you enjoy it.

After Izanami had mentioned the Yuki-onna she’d clammed up.Not willing to share anymore information.No matter how much the guests tried to pry it from her she simply wouldn’t budge.Sasuke for his part remained quiet…observing.

When the queen of the underworld,had finally had enough and stormed out,Sasuke had followed.He didn’t say anything as she deliberately took the eternal stairs,nor did he comment when she walked across the sea of lost souls.They walked silently(with Sasuke occasionally dragging his feet,just to see the surface ripple as the lost spirits collided in a spiral manner),when Izanami stopped,the shore was nothing more than a speck in the distance.

She conjured a huge black chaise from the water and sat regally on one end, while Sasuke himself  sprawled comfortably on  the other.He dipped his fingers into the water,ignoring the chills that ran up his body every time one of the souls brushed past.When Izanami,cleared her throat lightly he removed his hand,and shifted,staring up at sky(which was always swarming with purple eyed ravens ,that never tired and somehow only existed directly above the sea).

“I take it you know that, what I’m about to tell you stays only between the two of us”He nodded,slowly,his gaze finally shifting to her.

***

“You know I’m an original deity right?”She said,pulling invisible threads from her kimono, her bones clicking together lightly and again Sasuke nodded.

“There are many legends,some of them put forth by us directly and others fables,created by humanity that we never bothered to correct”

“All of them point to us having,absolute power and endless patience and control.”

“Hn”She glared sharply,an amazing skill given her lack of eyeballs at Sasuke’s disbelieving snort,but continued on.

“What none of the tales ever mention…is our Shinki?”

At that Sasuke sat up,his back straight,eyes wide in shock.

_The originals had shinki?!_

“Since I’ve been here,I’ve never had a shinki apartfrom you that is,and to the younger deities that  have come here,it has cemented the view that the ones above don’t need shinki”

“The truth is we do,even my twin,Izanagi,has horde of shinki,it’s just that his are a bit…extreme”

Sasuke tried to recall ever hearing about Izanagi having helpers,but even in his old world,he was depicted as being a lone figure.His eyes must have given away his question because Izanami continued before he could ask.

“The reason people believe my brother knows everything,which he does,is not because of some power he was born with, it’s because of  his shinki”

“So what, you’re telling me that ‘ _he-who-invites’_ has ghostly shinki following everyone spying on them”Sasuke said,trying not to be creeped out,by how Danzo like that sounded.

“My brother does not spy, little one,it is the humans who give him the information,even if they don’t realize it”

“Afterall,they are surrounded by the earth,wind and fire no matter where they go”

“Secrets are carried by the wind,crimes buried in the earth and tears given freely to the waters”

***

When the gravity of what Izanami was saying finally sunk in, Sasuke needed a few moments before he could  finally get himself under control.

“So you’re telling me that you’re brother’s shinki make up the actual earth…”

“Can he see us?”

“Of course not, this is my domain”

“Did you have a shinki?”

She flinched slightly and Sasuke knew he was right on the money.

“Yuki-onna?” She flinched very visibly and Sasuke knew whatever tale was about to follow would not be a good one.

 

***

“Her name was Tobiume and she was a first generation human…she was also  the first true friend I ever had”

“She died in a blizzard,and I watched her soul float amongst the snowflakes, before snatching it up and binding her to me”

“In those days the deities walked amongst mortals,so no introductions were needed when she realized she was dead.We just simply carried on from where we’d been”

***

“The first time I noticed the dark bruise beneath my ribs,I flew across the golden clouds,having the moisture there take it away”

“Back then blight didn’t have a name, but I knew instinctively that she’d done something bad,”

“I didn’t ask and she didn’t say anything ,and for a while I thought that was it”

“But then she kept disappearing more and more,and my body became a patchwork of blighted skin”

“I thought if I just hung on a bit longer, she’d come to her senses and the blighting would stop”

“ I couldn’t lose her,so I created a space pocket-a small one and every time I got bruised,I sent all the darkness into it,sealing it up and purifying myself”

***

“For a while it worked and I was able to convinve myself that nothing had changed,but even I couldn’t block out her coldness”

“It was like dying in that blizzard had frozen something deep within her,making her incapable of caring about anyone but herself,…but I still couldn’t cut ties with her”Her shoulders slumped as she continued and had Sasuke been someone else he would have offered comfort,but  since he was himself,he only offered her an understanding look(after all the things Konoha had done to him and his family and even at his angriest he still kind of thought of the village as home…so he understood exactly what she was talking about).

“Things finally got nasty,when it was time for the council to decide who should rule the heavens between me and my brother,the other would have to act as an advisor”

“Both of us had different,but equally important qualities for a ruler,he was calm and mostly even tempered, while I was charming and decisive.”

“For a while it seemed as though we were tied,then one day,I remember a searing pain shooting up my arm,during a council meeting,I knew exactly what it was and I did my best to hold my composure as it spread.”

“After the meeting,I excused myself as quickly as I could and headed to my chambers,once there I removed my formal wear,and inspected the damage,it wasn’t as bad as always, so set about  cleaning it and purifying it,it was only when I was done that I realized I wasn’t alone,my brother stood at the door,watching me with no small amount of disgust”

Her voice broke,as she continued and Sasuke pointedly looked elsewhere(there was something so profoundly wrong about seeing Izanami’s centipedes curling in on themselves-instead of being the agitated firecrackers they always were).

***

“It wasn’t even a trial,they’d decided I was guilty and that was that.At first I thought I was just going to be cast out,and in a way I was”

“What I hadn’t counted on was where exactly I was going,”

“You see the punishment for those,above who’ve broken the law,is to cast into the void, an infinite nothing ness,that degrdes the spirit until the being implodes,either becoming a blackhole or forming new stars”At Sasuke’s shocked looked she let out a little laugh.

“It’s not that bad,at least there you’re certain to become something else,what they had for me was worse”

“They opened up the pocket dimension I’d created.The  one I’d been filling with darkness, …”She pulled on her hair,her digital bones getting caught in it and Sasuke realized she wasn’t even aware that she was doing it.

“I stood at the edge,and I- I _begged,_ I got on my knees and I begged my own brother to spare me _”_

The amount of pride she must have sacrificed in order to do that had Sasuke wincing in sympathy

“But he wouldn’t be moved,he knew throwing me in would kill me but he didn’t care…until that moment I hadn’t realized just how far apart we’d drifted,he didn’t even flinch when put down the seals that would bind me to the darkness and his eyes were cold when he finally pushed me into the portal”

“But strangely enough,my brother’s callousness wasn’t what finally made me cry”Her light tone turned bitter at the last part.

“Since I’d been discovered,I hadn’t seen Tobiume,no one had,but as I was being swallowed into the depths,with darkness biting away chunks of my flesh I saw her.She was hiding behind a pillar,with only her head showing”

“I tried to reach for her,but by then my hands were gone,not that it would have been of any use”

“The wind battered me,as the waters rose up to drown me and when the earth shook and pummeled me deeper into the void,I-I was almost out of my mind with pain,but somehow I managed to call her name”

“She smiled,teeth white and shiny and then she winked,she was still smiling when the combined power of the elements finally pushed me all the way in and I was completely submerged”

***

“I hadn’t expected to survive,to be fair neither had they,but here I am”Her laugh is both bitter and brittle,holding back a torrent of pent up emotions.

“The beldams,saved me, I think they came with the blight.They look exactly like her,the only difference is that she has a shock of pure white hair-like the snow she died in”

“They kept me fed as my flesh wasted away and when my inside began to rot ,they scooped away the gunk,tearing me apart in order to keep me whole”Though she doesn’t say it,Sasuke can tell that the transformation had been painful, and revolting(the thought of flesh rolling off her bones makes him feel squeamish and he holds his breath until he feels better).

“Somehow.the dead started congregating here,and this realm expanded to fit them,submitting to me for the simple reason that I created it.”

Sasuke knows he’s not the most-touchy feely- person out there,but he instantly regrets it  when the first thing out of his mouth is-

“Did you at least try to fight,because all I hear is that you just sat there and waited to pushed to the side”

For some reason,that makes her laugh(a more genuine sound than the one she’ previously given).

“I did knee Izanagi in the crotch,when begging didn’t get me anywhere,I think that’s why he unleashed his  shinki on me”

“ _You kneed royal balls_ ”Sasuke said incredulously, smirking slightly as Izanami started giggling.

It didn’t quite take the edge off the conversation,but the air felt lighter.So Sasuke deemed it safe to continue.

“Do you know why she’s back”Izanagi nodded,her  hair obscuring her face.

“Tobiume always had opinion of herself”

“It was cute to watch when she was huma,but after she became my shinki,things would sift through our bond and I knew what they meant, I just didn’t want to believe them”

“What she wants is simple,it’s getting it that is difficult”

“Tobiume wants to be me…She wants to be a god”


	4. Chapter 4

It _hurt_ to breath, the cold air moved down his throat, burning all the way down and when the warm air came up it only made things worse, but he kept on moving.

 _“Tobiume wants to be me”_ Izanami’s words from what seemed to be ages ago, when in reality it had only been a year, kept replaying in his head and Sasuke’s features crumpled as he let his tears flow freely, his sharingan spinning wildly.

To a point Izanami had been right.The ice beast, had wanted her power.

 But the woman(he used the term generously-there was very little left in that thing that even looked vaguely human) also wanted the power of every other deity( _and their shinki_ ).Izanami had just been a stepping stone, an energy boost ,so that Tobiume could start devouring the others.

***

The half whimper Izanami had given in the end still haunted him. The way her empty sockets had shed tears of dark blood and fading light, as she’d finally realized that _she_ , of all the deities, was falling to the very thing she ruled- _death_.

The carnage that had followed afterwards, as the beldams devoured each other, had awakened a weak stomach he’d long since thought Orochimaru’s experiments had gotten rid of.

He stumbled over a root and with uncharacteristic clumsiness, …he let himself fall.

Not bothering to get up, he simply rolled over and stared up at the night sky.He wondered if Izanagi, was aware of his sister’s death…would he care, or would it just be the job he tried to do, finally done for him.

Sasuke pressed a swollen hand(the ice he’d been encased in had done some damage before he’d been able to break free) to his mouth and screamed into it.

The muffled scream died out, and he found himself struggling to breath,his body shaking uncontrollably as he bit into the palm of his hand.Once upon a time in a different world,Uchiha Sasuke had done the exact same thing.But back then, he’d been in a hospital bed, with an old man and several ANBU guards,watching him break down.Back then, he hadn’t known who was responsible for his loss and he hadn’t known what to do.

But this time, it wasn’t a little boy who’s baby teeth were still falling out who’d been dealt a blow.It was an adult who’d lived through tragedy before.

He’d just lost  the one link he still had to family, and the _almost_ sentient beings who, who treated him like he actually mattered.

Tobiume had to die, it had to be slow and painful, but she had to die.

 _Get up!,Sasuke_.You’ve survived a massacre before and you can do it again.

***

With his mind made up, he wiped his face with his sleeve, only to stop as something fell over his face.  
Hair.

Izanami’s hair.

He bit back a cry at the memory of hair flying all over the place when she’s been scalped.Her weapon of choice, falling like leaves in winter and littering the bowels of the underworld.Some of the strands had somehow attached to Sasuke’s cloak.He sat up, gently removing them and holding them in his less swollen hand.

With a thought, a chokuto materialized beside him( something he’d come to appreciate about his death was how he could conjure weapons at will).With as much care as he could muster , with swollen fingers, he tied the hair to the blade’s hilt,braiding it firmly until only a person paying close attention could tell the difference.

The supernatural aura Izanami’s hair always had around it, was faded, but when he gripped the sword,Sasuke could still feel traces of her(it was more than he’d been left with when, his family died-bottom feeders like Danzo had been too busy, gnawing on his family’s corpses, to even think he’d want something to remember them by).

Using the sword as a crutch, Sasuke got back on his feet and began walking.

***

Time in the underworld passed differently, than on the surface world.For Sasuke, it had only been a few hours since Izanami had used the last of her powers to tear a rift between the worlds of the living and the dead, to push him out,(despite him begging her to let him die as well(being the sole survivor of a massacre got real boring after the first one).But looking around him, he could tell the surface world had been in Tobiume’s clutches for longer than a few hours.

The land smelled like death( a scent life as a shinobi-and being a death-god’s shinki  had made easy to pick out).It wasn’t just the smell of decaying corpses, it was a strange morgue like smell that clung to even the living he passed by.They moved quietly , backs hunched, not making eye contact with anyone and not even talking.

None of them saw him of course, but he still climbed up a roof and hid in the shadows to watch them.Half an hour into watching them with hollow eyes, something happened.

A man on the street below staggered and Sasuke felt the hairs on his blade heat up.A few seconds later the man fell,Sasuke watched the man’s spirit leave his body, the ghost seemed to be heading straight for Sasuke(with the hairs now glowing an practically vibrating), when a wall of ice blocked the spirit’s path.

The ghost tried to phase through, but no matter where he moved, the ice wouldn’t let him go.The ice cracked with the spirit still inside, taking away the struggling man.It was only after the man’s spirit was gone that Sasuke noticed that his physical body was also under attack.

People stood around, watching with stricken faces, but still none of them made a sound, as the man’s limbs disappeared bit by bit until there was nothing left.

To them he was just vanishing into thin air.Sasuke did not have the luxury of thinking that, his eyes revealed everything.He saw the clawed hands, moving on their own and teeth attached to no mouths eating away at the body.Every part they touched turning to ice, and cracking and fading into the dark.

 _Of course_ …the woman wasn’t satisfied with just the souls.There was no way’s she’d let the earth have the bodies-that would power up Izanagi- and she couldn’t have that.

Having seen enough, Sasuke jumped off the roof, narrowly avoiding the clawed hand that was searching the ground for any scraps of human flesh still left behind.


End file.
